Happy life expectancy and correlates of happiness among older adults in South Africa.

OBJECTIVES: This paper examines factors associated with happiness and to estimate happy life expectancy for older people in South Africa.

METHODS: The study uses data from the first wave of the Study on Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) survey, which is a nationally representative population-based survey with a sample of 3,840 individuals aged 50 years and above. The Sullivan method and multivariate linear regression analysis were used in the analysis.

RESULTS: The prevalence of happiness was the same for men (55.5%) and women (55.4%) at the youngest of the age groups (50-59). However, this prevalence was higher in men than women across older ages. Women demonstrated longer life expectancy and happy life expectancy, but also unhappy life expectancy, compared to men, across all the ages. However, men had greater proportions of happy life expectancies compared to women. In multivariate analysis, wealth status, health, activity limitation, race and age were significantly associated with happiness among men and women.

CONCLUSIONS: Gender disparities in happiness are demonstrated in this study. It is important to understand the factors that promote happiness in older people as this may point to areas that need intervention for improving overall quality of life.